The snowfall froze the "Queen of Hills", as Shimla was fondly called by the British.

The cold weather resulted in the freezing of taps also in posh residential areas in Shimla such as the US Club and the Jakhu hills. The snowfall has brought down the minimum temperature to minus 2.4 degrees Celsius.

Kalpa in Kinnaur district, which saw 13.8 cm snow, recorded a low of minus 8.8 degrees Celsius. The temperature was minus six degrees Celsius in Manali with a snow of more than two feet, while it was 5.8 degrees in Dharamsala.

A spokesperson said no state-run bus has been plying in upper Shimla since Saturday as a large number of vehicles were stuck in snow between Kufri and Narkanda.

He advised tourists not to venture into remote areas of the state, especially from Nehru Kund to Palchan near Manali, as chances of snow avalanche were high over the next few days.

The weather forecast said Western Disturbances - storm systems originating from Caspian Sea in the Central Asia and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region - has almost receded from the region and the weather would mainly remain dry in the next few days.